Kathryn Shihadah

Kathryn Shihadah writes for MintPress News and If Americans Knew. She speaks regularly about the injustice and demonization Palestinians face at the hands of Israel with complicity from the United States, especially to Christian audiences. Kathryn has lived in the Middle East for ten years and has traveled extensively. She blogs at PalestineHome.org.

The Military-Industrial Complex, Israeli-Style. New Docuseries Touts Virtues of “Iron Dome”

A new documentary series produced in Israel tells the story of the Iron Dome missile system, but as Kathryn Shihadah reports, it leaves out crucial details about how the weapon is used and who funded it.

Kathryn Shihadah
By Kathryn Shihadah
Israel Iron Dome Feature photo

A new docuseries produced in Israel chronicles the development and use of Israel’s multi-billion dollar, U.S.-subsidized Iron Dome missile defense system. The mechanism, an extension of America’s own military-industrial complex, is designed to intercept primitive rockets from Gaza and epitomizes Israel’s approach to Palestinian resistance: denial

Read Full Article

How a Black Evangelical Denomination was Duped into “Blessing” Israel

“There are more than 40 million Black Americans, they spend more than $1.3 trillion a year, so we’re a measurable market, a measurable group of people, easily identified, and we think we can also contribute to the advancement of Israel.”  – Glenn Plummer, Bishop of Israel

Kathryn Shihadah
By Kathryn Shihadah
Glen Plummer Social Media

The Church of God in Christ, or COGIC, is certainly not the first evangelical group to embrace the state of Israel. But unlike most evangelical denominations, this one is mostly African American. Its leadership includes the newly-minted and first-ever “Bishop of Israel,” Dr. Glenn R. Plummer, who now resides in Jerusalem – and he cherishes his new

Read Full Article

Amid Torrent of Anti-BDS Legislation, Columbia University Students Win Referendum Against Apartheid

Columbia’s President has already hinted at efforts to undermine the referendum’s success, claiming that the BDS is tied to anti-Semitism and ignores “similar issues in other countries.”

Kathryn Shihadah
By Kathryn Shihadah

In a political climate that broadly supports Israel both financially and ideologically, a student group at Columbia University has beaten the odds, passing a referendum that calls for circumspection of its school’s investment in the state. What makes this accomplishment particularly striking is the fact that Congress and U.S. states are

Read Full Article

Trump Admin Poised To Gift Israel $11 Billion In Bid to Secure Another Arab-Israeli “Peace” Treaty

Trump’s arrangement to sell F-35 warplanes to the United Arab Emirates has prompted Israel to issue a list of demands – including must-have advanced aircraft and other accouterments.

Kathryn Shihadah
By Kathryn Shihadah
Israel US Feature photo

The United States continues to use the American taxpayers’ expense account to prioritize Israel’s aspirations. Close on the heels of the so-called Abraham Accords earlier this month, which normalized relations between Israel and the Arab states of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Trump administration is formulating plans to

Read Full Article

New Middle East Peace Plan Would Use Jobs to “Turn Palestinians Away from Violence”

The Middle East Partnership for Peace Act relies heavily on the premise that the primary reasons that Israel and the Palestinians have not achieved peace are merely economic.

Kathryn Shihadah
By Kathryn Shihadah
Israel Palestinians Feature photo

A dauntless supporter of Israel, House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) will retire in January after over thirty years in the House. Lowey hopes to leave behind a legacy of progress toward peace in the Middle East. That legacy, she hopes, will be achieved with the passage of her bill, the Middle East Partnership for Peace Act

Read Full Article

Israel Promised to Slow Down Home Demolitions During COVID-19, It Stepped Them Up Instead

The period from March to August 2020, a period marking the height of the coronavirus pandemic, represented the highest rate of Israeli home demolitions in four years.

Kathryn Shihadah
By Kathryn Shihadah
Israel Home Demolitions

Israel destroyed nearly 90 Palestinian-owned structures last month, rendering 202 people homeless, half of them children. The demolitions mark a fourfold increase in the average number of demolitions carried out by the Israeli government in 2020. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that, in spite

Read Full Article

Life Under Siege: The Blockade on Gaza Turns Fourteen and Is Still as Illegal as Ever

With no foreseeable end in sight, Israel’s blockade on Gaza not only runs afoul of international law, but it has also already been on the radar of the United Nations and human rights groups for well over a decade.

Kathryn Shihadah
By Kathryn Shihadah
Gaza Blockade Feature photo

As the coronavirus pandemic has dominated the headlines for the past few months, it could be easy to miss the news that the Gaza Strip has quietly entered its fourteenth year under an Israeli blockade. The humanitarian ramifications of that blockade cannot be understated, with Israel controlling Gazans from the high seas, the air, and the ground.

Read Full Article